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"The Skinny" By Eric Hornick Game 72 Carolina 4, Isles 3 Trevor Van Riemsdyk scored the winning goal with 6:49 to play as the Caro...

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Stat Trick: Isles 6, Detroit 0. Party Like it's the Early 1980's!

The Islanders won four Stanley Cups in the early 1980's; the Red Wings finished near the bottom of the League in all four of those years. Since then, Detroit has finished in first place 15 times, and won four Stanley Cups, while the Islanders, well..you know. Maybe the times are changing as the Islanders dominated Red Wings 6-0 at the Coliseum. On to the trick:

1. Deuces were wild for the Isles as they scored twice in each period, got two goals by Rob Schremp, got two goals by their defense, and battered two Red Wing goalies in nearly doubling Detroit in shots (31-16).

2. Matt Moulson scored the game-winning goal just 1:11 into play to re-take the team goal scoring lead with 17. Schremp scored the next two goals, both at even strength. It was Schremp's first even strength goals as an Islander and his third two-point game in the last four games. Mark Streit scored a power play goal (for the seocnd straight game) late in the second period to give the Islanders a four-goal bulge.

3. Kyle Okposo and Richard Park scored in the third period to complete the scoring. Okposo's goal was his fourth in as many games, and his fifth in the last nine games.

...a few more...

4. Dwayne Roloson could have used a lounge chair at times, particularly in the second period when he faced only two shots. He stopped 16 shots for his first shutout since December 13, 2008 and the 24th of his career. It's the second time in his career he's blanked the Red Wings. He has won four straight starts, is 7-0-1 in his last eight starts, and is now 18-7-6 on the season.

5. The Isles blank the Red Wings for the second straight game; Joey MacDonald shutout Detroit late last season. The Red Wings were blanked for the seventh time this season. The Isles have not allowed a goal to Detroit in 120:00, daying back to a Henrik Zetterberg overtime goal on January 30, 2007. However, it's the first time the Islanders have shutout the Wings on Long Island in nearly 34 years! Chico Resch blanked Detroit 1-0 on January 13, 1976; Clark Gillies had the game's only goal.

6. It's the first time that the Isles have shutout the same opponent in consecutive games since blanking Atlanta on December 13, 2003 and January 24, 2004. The 16 shots are the fewest allowed by the Islanders in any game since holding Atlanta to ten shots on February 16, 2008; it's the fewest shots that the Isles have allowed in a shutout since blanking Buffalo on 13 shots on October 11, 2003 (also by a 6-0 score).

7. Josh Bailey earned an assist on Okposo's goal, extending his assist streak to six games, and his point streak to seven games. Bailey is closing in on the Islander club record for consecutive games with an assist. The record is 9, done eight times by seven players. Tom Kurvers, in 1991-92, was the last Islander to have a 9-game assist streak. Bailey finished with 25 points in his rookie season; he has 23 this season with 34 games still to play.

8. The Isles improve to 7-2-1 in their last ten games, matching their best ten game streak since late-February, 2008. The blowout win ends a club record-tying streak of eight consecutive games that were decided by one goal or less.

9. With five even-strength goals, all by the Islanders, there were some interesting +/- notes. Gervais, who scored for the first time since March 25, 2009, and Freddy Meyer were both +3. Andrew MacDonald (+7) and Frans Nielsen (+12) came into the game leading Islander defenders and forward in +/-, but were the only Isles not on the ice for at least one even-strength goal, although Nielsen was on the ice for a power play tally. Detroit's Derek Meech was a -5 while future Hall-of-Famer Niklas Lidstrom was not on ice for an even-strength goal.

10. This was the only meeting of the teams this season... unless they meet in the Stanley Cup Finals, of course. The Wings have made the finals six times, winning four, since the Isles last won a playoff series.

Up next: the homestand continues on Saturday with the final meeting of the year with Buffalo. The home team has won all three meetings of the teams this season, including a Martin Biron Halloween shutout. The Isles have shutout the Sabres in each of the last two meetings of the teams at the Coliseum.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick